Tag Archives: Syria

Experts: Trump Gave ISIS Its Biggest Victory In Years

The New York Times reports: American forces and their Kurdish-led partners in Syria had been conducting as many as a dozen counterterrorism missions a day against Islamic State militants, officials said. That has stopped. Those same partners, the Syrian Democratic Forces, had also been quietly releasing some Islamic State prisoners and incorporating them into their ranks, in part as a …

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Pompeo: Trump Is “Fully Prepared” To Attack Turkey

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump is prepared to use military force against Turkey over its actions in Syria in the event that such is “needed,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday as U.S. troops withdraw from the region. “We prefer peace to war,” Pompeo told CNBC’s Wilfred Frost in a taped interview that aired on “Closing Bell” on Monday. …

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Turkey Accused Of War Crimes Against Kurdish Civilians

Newsweek reports: Turkey, a NATO member, has allegedly used chemical weapons against civilians in northern Syria. Multiple sources have reported that white phosphorus-loaded munitions are believed to have been dropped in the border town of Ras al-Ayn after images and video surfaced of civilians, including children, suffering gruesome burns associated with the chemical. Anthony Loyd, a journalist for The Times …

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Trump: We’ve Taken Control Of Middle East Oil [VIDEO]

CBS News reports: President Trump insisted Friday that Kurdish allies who were being forced from northern Syria to avoid slaughter are “very happy about the way things are going,” describing the already breached ceasefire brokered with Turkey like a business deal. The president also said the U.S. has taken control of oil in the region, although it’s unclear what he …

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GOP Rep Rages: Trump Created Chaos In Syria [VIDEO]

“When America leaves we create a vacuum. When we create a vacuum we create chaos, and that’s what we’re seeing right now. I applaud the president’s efforts to create that ceasefire, but we shouldn’t have had to do it in the first place. We could have simply told Turkey, who is supposedly our ally, not to send their invasion force …

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Turkey Continues Attack Despite Pence’s “Ceasefire”

The Guardian reports: Fighting is continuing on the border between Syria and Turkey, according to witnesses, despite an announcement from the US vice-president, Mike Pence, that Ankara had agreed to a five-day ceasefire to allow the US supervision of the withdrawal of Kurdish forces from the area. Intermittent artillery fire and ground clashes continued in the border town of Ras …

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Paul Blocks Resolution Condemning Trump On Syria

Vox reports: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a longtime opponent of “endless wars,” just blocked a resolution condemning President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw American troops from northern Syria. “I object to this resolution because it does nothing to fix this problem,” Paul said, while pushing his own bill to stop arms sales to Turkey. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had …

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Pence: Turkey Agreed To Temporary Ceasefire In Syria

ABC News reports: Turkey has agreed to a ceasefire in northern Syria between its forces and their allied rebels and U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds, Vice President Mike Pence announced. Pence met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Thursday to push for a ceasefire. Erdogan had repeatedly rejected the idea, saying his government would not negotiate with what it considers a terrorist …

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Turkey Dumped Trump’s Batshit Letter “Into The Trash”

The Middle East Eye reports: A leaked letter written by US President Donald Trump to Recep Tayyip Erdogan warning his Turkish counterpart not to be a “fool” has sent shockwaves around Turkey due to its lack of protocol and seriousness. Seemingly, the letter was leaked to confront those in the United States criticising Trump for waving through the Turkish offensive …

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House Rebukes Trump On Syria Pullout In 354-60 Vote

The Associated Press reports: The House has overwhelmingly voted its bipartisan condemnation of President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of American forces from northern Syria. Despite stark divisions over Democrats’ Trump impeachment inquiry, Democrats and Republicans banded together Wednesday and approved a nonbinding resolution by 354-60 vote. The resolution states Congress’ opposition to the troop pullback and says Turkey should cease its …

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Trump: Turkey’s Invasion Of Syria Is “Not Our Problem”

Reuters reports: U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday played down the crisis in Syria touched off by Turkey’s incursion against U.S.-allied Kurdish forces, saying the conflict was between Turkey and Syria and that it was “fine” for Russia to help Damascus. Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House, said imposing U.S. sanctions on Turkey would be better than fighting …

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Erdogan Refuses To Meet With Pence And Pompeo

NBC News reports: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will refuse to meet with Vice President Mike Pence, who is due to travel to Turkey to argue for a ceasefire in the ongoing Syria conflict. “I’m not going to talk to them. They will be talking to their counterparts. When Trump comes here, I’ll be talking,” he said …

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SYRIA: Russian Troops Move In As US Troops Withdraw

The Associated Press reports: Russia moved to fill the void left by the United States in northern Syria, deploying troops Tuesday to keep apart advancing Syrian government and Turkish forces. At the same time, tensions grew within NATO as Turkey defied growing condemnation from its Western allies of its invasion across the border. Now in its seventh day, Turkey’s offensive …

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Trump To Sanction Turkey For “Destabilizing Actions”

The Washington Post reports: President Trump on Monday said he would implement sanctions on Turkey following bipartisan backlash over his decision to greenlight the country’s incursion into northern Syria. The president said in a statement that the U.S. will target government officials in Ankara and “any persons contributing to Turkey’s destabilizing actions in northeast Syria.” The sanctions include an increase …

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Lindsey Graham Resumes Praise Of Trump’s Genius

Politico reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham signaled on Sunday that President Donald Trump’s partnering with Congress to stop Turkish aggression in Syria would be “a game changer.”  “I applaud his decision to work with Congress to stop Turkeys [sic] aggression in Syria through crippling economic sanctions,” he tweeted, saying he had spoken to the president. “This decision by President Trump will …

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US To “Evacuate” Remaining Troops From Syria [VIDEO]

CBS News reports: The U.S. is “preparing to evacuate” about 1,000 U.S. troops from northern Syria “as safely and quickly as possible,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper told “Face the Nation” in an interview Sunday. The move comes a week after President Trump announced the repositioning of several dozen American troops embedded with Kurdish forces in northern Syria, opening the door …

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Hundreds Of ISIS Supporters Escape In Turkish Attack

The Associated Press reports: Turkish forces approached a key Kurdish-held town in northern Syria on Sunday, setting off clashes that allowed hundreds of Islamic State supporters to escape from a camp for displaced people and prompted U.S. soldiers to withdraw from a nearby base. A U.S. military official said the situation across northeastern Syria was “deteriorating rapidly” and that American …

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US Forces Think Turkey Deliberately Fired At Them

The Military Times reports: American troops and former U.S. officials believe a Turkish artillery strike on Friday that landed about 300 meters from a U.S. commando outpost near the Syrian city of Kobani was done deliberately. No U.S. troops were injured in the strike, but U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said American commandos temporarily withdrew from their observation post on Mishtanur …

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Mnuchin Threatens US Sanctions On Turkey [VIDEO]

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump has given his administration broad authority to slap sanctions on Turkey, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Friday. Trump signed an executive order authorizing the powers, though the administration will not move yet to punish Turkish individuals or entities after the country’s offensive in northern Syria. Still, Mnuchin threatened devastating actions in the wake of …

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Pentagon Objects To Turkey’s “Incursion” Into Syria

Via press release from the Pentagon: Yesterday, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar spoke by phone where they discussed the situation in northeast Syria. Secretary Esper made it clear that the United States opposes Turkey’s uncoordinated actions as they place at risk the progress made by the Defeat-ISIS Coalition. While the Secretary reaffirmed …

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